Hello friends. You must be aware by now that if you have received a scholarship, you are also required to do 30 hours of community service per academic year. You can choose to distribute these hours any way you want, as long as you get them done by the end of the academic year. Even if you are on coop, and do not use your scholarship for a semester, you need to complete your hours since your scholarship will apply to the upcoming semester when you are taking classes.

Even if you do not need service hours for scholarship reasons, it is always nice to be able to give back to the community! You might even be able to find something that you actually enjoy doing. For example, a friend of mine does not need service hours but she volunteers at a pet shelter nearby because she loves cats!

The best way to find these service opportunities is the school’s volunteer website. Different organizations post their volunteer needs, and you are able to respond to those needs through the website. The website also keeps track of your service hours. After you volunteer somewhere, you can submit your hours to the website. The organization that you volunteered with will verify these hours, and tada! You have your hours! However, bear in mind that you can only use 10 hours of on-campus service hours. At least 20 hours need to be performed off-campus.

If you find a service opportunity that is not listed on the website, you can submit those hours too. You can print off the Service Hours Form, and have a representative from the organization sign for verification.

Some of my best volunteer experiences have been off-campus. I have been volunteering at the high school nearby campus, and it’s so much fun to coordinate after-school activities for the students. Some of my friends also volunteer at theaters nearby, so they get to watch a show for free!

I hope you find something you care about, and give back to the community!